New Kid
by Fairylust
Summary: Mello sees the new kid is always sad and when he tries to speak with him the new kid only cries. Doc Matt doesn't help. Neither does Rodger. Can Mello make the new kid happy? Will the new kid be his friend? Read to find out and review fur me plz! Rated K!


He was the new kid, and unusual looking at that. He was as pale as a snowflake. He wore a baggy, white button down pajama shirt that was just as white as his flesh, some white, baggy pants and socks of the same shade of snowy white. He had white curls of hair, as well, which his little fingers would occasionally come up to twirl or tug at. He hadn't hurt nobody and he seemed rather shy.

A blonde boy, named Mello liked shy people.

They were usually the kids he made friends with. yet he hadn't seen one person go anywhere near the small snowy white child. Mello decided to be friendly. He walked over to the new kid and said as nicely as he could, "Hello." He noticed the boy's oddities more closely now and was a bit surprised. But it wasn't any of his snowy white features or clothes, which held little Mello's attention. It wasn't his appearance, but his _eyes_. The kid had empty gray eyes that seemed to stare at absolutely nothing. Mello felt chilled when the boy looked at him, because it was like the kid wasn't looking at him at all, but was looking straight through him.

It seemed so strange to be looked at and feel as though you weren't being looked at.

The small child had only been at the orphanage for three days now, but Mello couldn't remember him talking to anyone. Not one single word or sentence. Then again nobody really talked to him. The kid looked like he might be four or five. He was small. And those strange, empty gray eyes suddenly begun to overflow with tears. Mello jumped back as if he was just burnt by a hot iron.

"What's the matter?" he asked. "Why're you crying all of a sudden?"

The boy didn't speak.

"Hey, why dun you speek none?" the blonde asked kneeling in front of the younger boy who sniffled, but didn't speak. "Cummon, what's wrong? Why're you crying?"

In all of Mello's seven years of life he'd never seen anyone like this small, pitiful boy. He looked so weak and fragile and sad. He reminded Mello of a small white bunny he had seen back in Russia. The little thing had been nibbling on some grass, then the next thing Mello knew a duo of big dogs ran out at the bunny and the little thing was running and screeching and then it didn't move once the dogs caught it. It'd upset Mello, since he was five at the time, but he'd had his mum to make him feel better.

This kid who was crying didn't have a mum. It made Mello's heart jerk with sympathy. He knew that as a fact. Anyone, no, everyone who walked through the doors of Whammy's Orphanage was parentless. He quickly decided that it was up to him to make the poor pale boy not cry. _His mum probably would do the same._ Mello thought as he continued watching the miserable snow-white boy cry. He then got an idea.

"Wait here, kay, kid?" he said as he ran from the room. "Dun move!"

When Mello came back he brought his best friend, Matt, who had red hair wore goggles with baggy jeans, a striped shirt and white socks. Matt was a year younger than Mello, so the blonde hoped he'd be able to diagnose what made the little boy so sad. "You could be like a doc." Mello said as he drug Matt into The Common Room, which remained empty save for the weeping little boy. Matt gave Mello a confused look.

"But I dunno how to be a doc." He said shrugging. "Why can't you bee the doc if you wanna make 'em feel bitter?"

"Not bitter!" Mello corrected. "Better!"

"That what I said." Matt protested. "You wanna make 'em bitter. I dunno how to make anyone bitter. I dunno how to be a doc."

Sighing Mello drug Matt over to the new kid. "Matty this is…Bunny…and Bunny this Matty. Bunny, Matty ill be your doc now."

The boy who Mello dubbed 'Bunny' looked at Matt with large teary eyes and started to tremble. He was scared of Matt, as he had never in all his five years of life seen _anyone_ with hair as red as Matt's. The redhead was secretly scared of the weird looking boy as well. He did, after all, appear like he was sick. Very sick. Not emotionally, but physically and that made Matt scared. He hated getting sick and having to stay in bed all day. It was boring! "I dun wanna be the doc, Merro!" he whined to his best friend who gave him big puppy eyes. Yes, he appeared both adorable and pitiful. "You gotta be the doc!" Mello exclaimed unhappily. "Bunny won't get better if you not the doc. And if Bunny dun't get better…." Fake tears began rolling down Mello's face and Matt sighed nodding. "Fin." He pouted knowing his friend's act was fake, but felt guilty all the same.

After looking at the boy for like five seconds Matt turned back to Mello.

"Well, what's wrong with Bunny?"

"I dunno."

"Huh?"

"I dunno."

"Some doc you are!"

"I said I dun wanna be a doc."

"Can ya make Bunny better?"

"Nah, I dun know how to make 'em bitter." He said calmly, whilst Mello gave him a playful death glare for like a full second. Sighing Mello knelt down beside 'Bunny'. "'Em yur new best friend?" Matt asked worriedly. A wave of jealousy swept over him in a moment's time, but he didn't show it. He eagerly awaited his friend's answer.

"Nah," Mello said watching as 'Bunny' continued crying, "Bunny is just a sad snowflake. I wanna make Bunny happy, but I dun't know how either. I dun think he's sick, anymore."

"'Em is really pale." Matt pointed out. Mello shrugged. After a little while Matt figured it was a waste of time to just stand there watching some new kid cry, so he left the room to go play a game. The blonde wrapped an arm around the boy's shoulders and smiled a small, helpless smile. He really wished he could've made 'Bunny' feel better. The white clad boy continued his weeping until an old man, who Mello and the other children knew as Rodger came in and lifted 'Bunny' up. He carried the small boy from the room, making Mello rather peeved. He didn't like the old man and the fact he'd just taken 'Bunny' made him even more displeased with the old man. He followed the old man closely asking questions as he followed him.

"What's wrong with 'em?"

"Nothing."

"Why is 'em so sad?"

"No idea."

"Are you sure?"

"Not really."

"What's is name?"

"Near."

"Oh, I thought it was Bunny 'cause he's so snowy-white."

"No."

"Dun't he like bein here?"

"I don't know, Mello."

"Is Nia gonna be okay?"

"Yes, now, why don't you go play?"

"I can't!" Mello whined. "Nia is crying and sad and I dun know why!"

The old man sighed in annoyance. He wasn't too fond of children and the fact that Mello was questioning him while he was holding a weeping Near only made his dislike even greater. Then again, he knew the dislike between them was mutual. Rodger left the small boy in a room that Mello recognized.

He winced as he realized that it was Near's new room.

It had been vacant for a long time after some kid hung himself and his ghost supposedly haunted the room or at least that was what one of the teenagers had told him and Matt the previous Halloween. Rodger left the boy alone sitting on the bed. He buried his face into the pillow and wept even worse than before. Mello stood beside the bed feeling sorry for him. He knew the kid must've been scared being in a room that a ghost lived in. He and Matt were scared too, after hearing that a ghost occupied the room. They had been dared to go in and were too terrified so they both avoided the room at all costs.

"Hey, Nia," Mello said softly, "are you scared of the ghosty?" The weeping boy looked at him with huge, empty, gray, teary eyes that revealed he knew nothing of a 'ghosty' as Mello said there was. The small boy started to wail loudly unable to hide his fear and sadness. Rodger appeared back in the room within seconds. "What the devil have you done now, brat?"

Mello shrugged.

Sighing and shaking his head the old man left slamming the door behind him. "What's your name?" Mello asked. The boy quieted down and looked at him wiping his face with the sleeves of his white pajama shirt. "Propurr…no, um, proper, yes, proper. We needs to meet purperly…no…properly." Mello said struggling with the word he heard the old man use every so often. The boy sniffled trembling. Mello truly didn't expect him to speak so it came as a shock when the small boy _did _speak back to him.

"Nate…." He whispered in a broken, little voice. "Nate…" he repeated sniffling sadly.

"No." Mello corrected. "Your Nia."

"I'm Nate." The boy protested. "Nate…" he whispered again as a round of fresh tears poured down his beautiful, porcelain face. "I'm Nate. Nate!"

"Nah!" Mello said firmly. "You haveta be Nia, that is who you are now."

"No!" the small boy screamed in dismay. "I'm Nate! I'm Nate! I'm Nate!"

Tears flowed down his cheeks and onto the floor until a teensy wet puddle was formed, and then they slowed. Mello huffed crossing his arms. "I'm Merro." He said huffily. "I'm Merro and your Nia. So hello." He smiled a friendly smile that disappeared when the small boy shook his head vigorously. "I'm Nate…not Nia…Nate…Nate…." He sobbed sorrowfully, determined to keep his name, as Nate. Mello crossed his arms feeling a bit confused. "Dun you like yur new name?" he asked. He wuickly thought of another reason for the boy's dismay and hate for his new name. "You dun have any friends yet, so ya?" he asked sympathetically.

Near shook his head.

"Is that why your so sad?"

Near shook his head again.

"Do you wanna be my friend?"

Near shook his head sobbing even worse.

"Why not?" Mello demanded feeling insulted. "Why dun ya wanna be my friend?"

"Mama and Papa din want me anymore." He sobbed heartbrokenly. "Hey said I was too evole lookin and too week. Hey said I was too mitch troople." His words were garbled due to his underdeveloped vocal cords and the fact that he was crying so much, but Mello understood the sad little boy's words perfectly.

Mello understood. Near hadn't had his parents cruelly taken from him by a twisted killer or some horrendous accident, but they had marched into Whammy's House Orphanage and filled out some form, more than likely with there little boy watching, then told him a bunch of mean things and freely given him up, walking away from the orphanage without him. He didn't know what to say about that. All the children he'd met had lost their parents, who left them unwillingly. His parents and Matt's parents had died, but Near's parents had a choice to keep or abandon him and they chose to abandon him. Mello was truly angered with that knowledge.

"Well, if they din want you then that's okay!" he spat surprising Near. "They musn' have knew whatda a greet kid they had! An-"

"I wanna be purrfect." Near interjected. "Hey want me if I purrfect."

Mello pouted knowing that the boy missed his parents and was probably afraid of losing anyone he let get close to him. Mello had met a girl who was like that, but she was transferred to another orphanage after she misbehaved too badly. Sighing Mello did the first thing that came to his mind: he kissed Near. The snow-white boy blushed a cherry color of red. "Why Merro do dat?" he asked blushing a crimson red. "Merro?"

"Nia, you ill never be purrfect." He said crawling up beside the younger boy. "You ill always be imperfect. Always." Near's bottom lip quivered. How could Mello kiss him and say that? It hurt the boy's feelings to know Mello thought he was imperfect. "Nia!" Mello spat. "Don't cry, Nia, ill won't ever be purrfect, nobody else is, purrfect, either." Near looked at him with teary gray eyes. He felt confused and made it obvious through his stare. "Nia, I ill not ever be purrfect and neither will Matty or Rodger. Not anybody ill be purrfect." He explained smiling. Near nodding understandingly, smiling a small sad smile that in turn caused Mello to smile.

Wrapping his arms around Near's small form Mello giggled.

"We'll be friends, Nia." Mello said smiling kindheartedly. "Forever."

"Re-really." Near squeaked. "Merro means dat?"

"Yup."

"Thank you, Merro."

And Near hugged Mello back smiling softly, knowing he'd never be alone, again.


End file.
